Ability
Abilities are what players can unlock on the ability wheel and then inter-change as they progress in the world. Players can only have fourteen abilities available to them at any one time, seven active and seven passive, but have the option to change which abilities they use as long as they are outside of combat. Decks, suggested build paths, will be available to give players an idea of where to start with ability point allocation. There are 10 decks available for each faction. Player-created builds can be saved to allow abilities and associated gear to be swapped at the same time. All abilities are unique instead of just being more powerful forms of other abilities. They will scale with gear. Skills, by contrast, are effectively barriers to more effective gear and abilities, past which the player moves by leveling with SP. Acquisition Abilities are acquired by using ability points that are awarded with experience, which can be done by completing missions, defeating enemies, exploring, crafting, and PvP. New abilities can be purchased at outposts and at the faction headquarters; abilities deeper in a cell have increased cost and purchase restrictions exist. An individual player can learn all of the abilities available to them, based on faction; this process is expected to be lengthy. No abilities will be mutually exclusive to each other. Characters are able to test all of the basic abilities available to them in their faction's training room, once you leave the training room, the ability is purchased. Once abilities are purchased they cannot be refunded. Certain faction abilities are obtained through routes other than experience gain; these abilities are primarily non-combat. Types 'Active' Abilities that are active must be triggered to be used and have a cool-down period. Active abilities are always based on one weapon type, and cannot be used if that weapon is not equipped. Active abilities have these traits, the opposite of Passive abilities. Active abilities may be Builders, Exploiters, Finishers or Elite. 'Builders' Builders are abilities that create resources, up to a maximum of five for each, which can then be consumed by other abilities called finishers. When players build a resource, they will build it for both weapons they are holding. Therefore, if they are using one melee weapon and one ranged weapon, and use a ranged builder ability, they will have gained one focus on their target and one momentum on themselves. Exploiters Exploiters are abilities that do additional effects, such as increased damage, if the enemy is in a particular negative State, such as Afflicted, Hindered, Impaired or Weakened. 'Finishers' Finishers are abilities that consume resources in return for special abilities that do more damage. 'Elite' Elite abilities appear at the end of a cell in the ability wheel. All skills above the elite ability must be purchased in order to obtain it. Elites are stronger skills that reward the player for specializing in a certain ability line. Only one active and one passive elite can be equipped at once. 'Passive' Passive abilities are always active on the player while equipped. They may or may not require an appropriate weapon to be equipped and they may interact with active abilities or improve base skill abilities. Blast :Category:Blast Attack Burst :Category:Burst Attack Chain :Category:Chain Attack Drone :Category:Drone Abilities Focus :[[:Category:Focus Abilities Focus attack :Category:Focus Attack Frenzy :Category:Frenzy Abilities Frenzy attack :Category:Frenzy Attack Mine :Category:Mine Abilities Nomenclature Player terminology for ability types includes: * Burst - high damage, at the cost of large amounts of energy. A preferred opening ability, where it is less likely to cause overkill and can best inform allies of the scope of the challenge at hand. Ironically named Finishers by Development * Builders - Energy building abilities * Stacking abilities - abilities whose effects or duration add together to be more effective, or last longer, respectively * Interrupts * Purge - removal of positive effects from the enemy * AoE - Area of Effect, affects targets within an area, often a circle or fan shape * Stun * Root - Enemy "rooted" in place; cannot move * Snare - Enemy slowed; movement speed reduction Ability and roles *Melee **Fists + Damage and Healing **Blades = Damage and Survivability **Hammers = Damage and Survivability *Ranged **Pistols ^ Damage and Support **Shotguns ^ Damage and Support **Assault Rifles + Damage and Healing *Magic **Elementalism ^ Damage and Support **Blood Magic + Damage and Healing **Chaos Magic = Damage and Survivability *Talismans **Head Talisman **Major Talisman - made up of the Finger, Neck, and Wrist talismans. **Minor Talisman - made up of the Luck, Waist, and Occult talismans. States' effect on roles Of the 36 possible pairs of Weapons, only ten can inflict all four States. Complimentary pairs include: one from Group A plus one from Group B, or Group C plus Group D. *Group A Lure: Bonus damage with a DoT while kiting the enemy with a Snare. *Assault Rifle - Afflicted, Hindered *Elementalism - Afflicted, Hindered *Group B Tactics: Offensive and defensive debuffs for damage and survivability. Less complementary for Chaos Magic, which can avoid enemy attacks at a distance and so needs the enemy damage debuff less. *Chaos Magic - Impaired, Weakened *Hammer - Impaired, Weakened *Group C Assassin: Damage plus damage, with a DoT and a debuff of the enemies' defense. *Blade - Afflicted, Impaired *Blood Magic - Afflicted, Impaired *Fist - Afflicted, Impaired *Group D Tower: Minimizing enemy damage with a snare and a debuff of the enemies' attacks. The least complementary of the pairs; ideally, if the snare is working, the debuff is redundant. Ranged attacks are less likely to be evaded though. *Pistol - Hindered, Weakened *Shotgun - Hindered, Weakened Skills Skills in The Secret World refer to a character's skill rank with the various weapons in game. Increasing skill ranks enables you to use weapons and talismans of higher quality levels. Skills are barriers to more effective gear and abilties, past which the player moves by leveling. Players accumulate Skill Points (SP) and move up in ranks. Equipping gear of higher quality is necessary to be able to fight stronger monsters (low level weapons have more chances to glance against high level encounters). You increase skill ranks in a specific weapon or talisman type by purchasing ranks in one of its associated Skill Feats. Each of these Feats grants you passive abilities that will be automatically applied to your character as long as a weapon of that type is equipped. Category:Abilities